Wet semiconductor wafer processing is an important part of the overall process of manufacturing semiconductor wafers. Because of the extreme conditions involved in wet wafer processing, the design of wet wafer processing vessels is of critical importance. Wet wafer processing conditions involve highly corrosive chemicals, often at high temperatures.
Normally the tank used to hold the corrosive chemicals is a quartz tank which can resist the corrosive chemical action of wet wafer processing. The tank is normally filled with the active chemical and the wafers are immersed in the tank for processing. Because of the debris which results, it is necessary to withdraw the chemical batch from the tank either for filtration and reprocessing or to permit replacement of the prior chemical batch.
The ports through which the chemicals are withdrawn from the quartz tank are subject to the same severe operating conditions as the quartz tank. Because of the need to connect additional tubing to these ports, the design of these connections is complicated.
Thus, there is a need for fittings for semiconductor wet processing tanks which can withstand the extreme conditions of wet wafer processing while enabling mechanically expeditious techniques for securing the necessary processing lines beneath the tank.